Between its archives and library, nearly one-fifth of the entire Wisconsin Historical Society collection, now containing more than one million items, deals with family or local history, making it one of the largest genealogical collections in the country. It is not, however, limited to Wisconsin history. The library attempts to acquire all U.S. and Canadian historical and genealogical materials. Vital records prior to 1907 are on microfilm for the entire state (see Wisconsin Vital Records). Census holdings include all federal censuses for all states. The society has all federal census indexes for Wisconsin and is acquiring some indexes for other states. There is an extensive collection of passenger lists and one of the nation’s largest newspaper collections, national in scope, but predominantly concerning Wisconsin (see Wisconsin Periodicals, Newspapers, and Manuscript Collections, and Wisconsin Maps sections). Books, except for rare editions and pamphlet-size, are on open shelves.

The archives, housed in the Historical Society Building, holds manuscript copies of early state censuses (see Census Records for Wisconsin), sets of land, probate, court, and tax records from many Wisconsin counties and municipalities.

For more detail on the society, see James P. Danky, ed., Genealogical Research: An Introduction to the Resources of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin (Madison, Wis.: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1986) and the society’s website. Hours at the library include some evenings, but are also affected by university calendars since the building is on the campus of the University of Wisconsin.

Founded in 1939, the Wisconsin State Genealogical Society’s mission is to help people discover the excitement of family history by providing leadership to the Wisconsin genealogical community and supporting them through education, communication, advocacy, and development of research materials. It holds two educational conferences each year, the one-day Fall Seminar and the two-day Gene-A-Rama in the spring. Each features outstanding speakers of national stature, workshops on special subjects and vendors of genealogical publications, supplies and services. The quarterly WSGS Newsletter includes church, Bible, vital and cemetery records, helpful hints, articles on genealogy and a free query section for members. The society also publishes indexes to the application files for its Pioneer and Century Ancestor Certificate programs. The files hold a wide variety of genealogical data, including vital, church, land, naturalization and probate records, obituaries and other data which can be of great value to current researchers.

WSGS is a member of the Wisconsin Council for Local History, the Federation of Genealogical Societies, and an organizational life member of the National Genealogical Society.

A collaborative system of thirteen area research centers in Wisconsin hold public records transferred by counties, towns, cities, and other local governments and collections of papers and records from private individuals and organizations. The goal of each center is to build comprehensive collections documenting the history of its region. The collections include photographs, newspapers, maps, and family histories. Many of the centers are enhanced by the contributions and volunteer hours of local genealogy groups. Newspaper indexes to vital records, cemetery readings, and original local church records can be located in some of the centers. Centers vary considerably in their collections and, therefore, in their value to genealogists. Archival collections usually located at the Wisconsin Historical Society or at one of the centers may be transferred temporarily within the network to accommodate local researchers (some exceptions apply, particularly for materials heavily used onsite). All archive and manuscript materials at the centers are cataloged centrally online at http://arcat.library.wisc.edu/. Write or call the appropriate center before visiting since hours vary by center, the calendar, staffing, and university schedules. Area Research Centers and the counties they serve are: